A woman who ran up secret debts of £28,000 with six maxed-out credit cards and two loans has revealed how she got her "black cloud" of debt under control.
Credit card borrowing soared by £1.5billion in February to £59.5billion, the highest since records began in 1993.
The average adult owes more than £1,100 on a credit card and the number of households struggling with debt has risen by a third.
One woman, who wants to stay anonymous as her husband is unaware of the debt, began borrowing money when she fell into financial troubles during the pandemic last year.
"I have never had the best relationship with credit cards. they have haunted me for years and they turned from a short-term fix to a long-term problem," she said.
"During the pandemic I thought I got my credit card use under control, but it started to go up again with grocery bill costs and fuel, and it snowballed."
During the first lockdown she continued to get her basic salary of £1,600 a month, but not the £300-£400 a month in expenses she would normally have received.
The woman, who works in education and is in her forties, started relying more on credit cards, eventually maxing out five or six at a time.
She also took out two high-interest loans, one from TSB and one from Honeycomb.
The woman ended up paying £1,300 on interest alone every month, leaving £300 for all her living costs.
She ended up borrowing money to pay off one credit card, then using it for the next month of payments.
At the worst point she was £28,000 in debt.
"On cards alone I once owed £22,000, and on loans I owed £5,000 to TSB and £1,000 to Honeycomb," she said. "I would pay off the minimum on a credit card then use it for the next grocery shop."
But her debts were all secret, as her husband and family do not know.
"He would be disappointed if he knew," she said. "We don't have a joint account and we don't really discuss finances. I always made it look like I've got money in my bank. I put on a facade and a brave face, but it's all just been an act."
She said her plan to pay off all the debt was to wait until she had paid off the two loans, then use the extra cash she was saving to help pay off the credit cards.
But with hindsight she says this plan would never have worked.
"It was stupid, and at points I thought I was beyond help," she said.
Then out of the blue she got a call from her loan provider TSB.
"They asked if I wanted to talk about my finances," she said.
The woman was nervous about talking to the firm about all her debts, thinking it might count against her in some way.
But she said TSB staff eventually approved her for a debt consolidation loan.
"I went to TSB and was embarrassed, admitting what a mess I was in, but I had no judgement from them at all," she said.
TSB lent her £25,000 to clear her debts, then fixed a monthly repayment of around £525 for five years - £775 a month less interest than she was paying on the loans separately.
The best rate TSB offers on these loans is 2.8%, though the average is between 8.9% and 11.9%.
TSB UK director, branch banking, Carol Anderson said: "If anyone thinks they are in difficulty, or worried about their money, the earlier they talk to their bank the better.
"Your credit score is not affected if you have debt but pay it off in good time."
The anonymous woman also got a three-month buffer with no repayments at all, letting her build up some savings as well.
"Money is now not on my mind 24/7, I'm no longer losing sleep about how I could juggle it all," she said. "It's like a black cloud has been lifted.
"To anyone who is in debt, I would say don't be shy and ask for help."
The Mirror has a guide on how to help tackle problem debt, here .
